The device runs Android 2.2, which supports Adobe Flash, so the first thing I tried was a couple of dashboards suitable for executives on the run, built using BusinessObjects Dashboard (formerly Xcelsius). First, the same Formula 1 example that I previously tried out on my Google Nexus One phone.

Then I loaded up a dashboard from Donald MacCormick, that uses his flashy Globe component:

I also would have liked to get the chance to try out the brand-new mobile dashboards functionality provided by Antivia, that makes it easy to provide a single Xcelsius dashboard that automatically adapts to a mobile interface – but Antivia CEO Mark Hudson has promised to post a video of the experience at some point.

Overall, the experience was generally very similar to the Nexus phone. The dashboards felt a little sluggish, especially when I was using the graphics-intensive transitions, but basic navigation worked fine.

There were a few differences compared to the Google Phone:

• Unlike with the Nexus, you couldn’t hold your finger down on the dashboard in the browser in order to maximize it to full screen size (and get rid of the top bar) – but you could pinch to zoom, and pan with your finger, which isn’t possible with my Nexus phone.
• The zooming and panning seemed a little tricky to use in the dashboard context (i.e. when you’re trying to avoid clicking on one of the buttons at the same time) – for example, I could zoom in on Donald’s Globe, but once I’d done so, I could no longer use a slide gesture to turn the globe – it was interpreted as a gesture to pan the whole dashboard instead. This would probably have been easier to use with a bit more practice, but it underlines that Flash isn’t yet really optimized for touch devices.
• Because of the larger screen size, it was much easier to click in the right place, making it feasible to use the same dashboard for the screen and for the mobile device.

Next, I tried out SAP BusinessObjects OnDemand. Since it uses a mixture of HTML and Flash, it worked very well – here’s the list of available reports once I logged on:

And here’s an example of a formatted report. Using a web-based reporting tool like Web Intelligence or Crystal Reports on a mobile device browser is a joy: the pinch and panning gestures work perfectly, making it easy to move around a big report and zoom in on the important details.

Overall, the size and form factor of the Galaxy Tab seemed like a good business compromise – much lighter and easier to stick in a pocket than the iPad, but with much more useable screen space than a mobile phone. It already works well for analytic interfaces that use HTML, and while the useability of the Flash-based dashboards isn’t perfect, it’s at least possible, unlike the iPad.

Personally, I chafe at the restrictions imposed by Apple on their devices (for example, it’s deliberately awkward to create and distribute prototypes of applications without signing their license agreements), and I hate every second I’m forced to use iTunes (I don’t have a Mac, and it’s a horrible, slow, bug-ridden experience using my PC).

So overall, I’m a strong candidate for Android-power devices like the Samsung Galaxy Tab, and I’m sure I would use it more for business than the iPad, which I tend to find too underpowered and annoying for real work (e.g. the infuriating keyboard that forces you to go to a second screen just to type an apostrophe), and yet too bulky to put in a pocket to use on the move.

However, Android 2.2 doesn’t really seem to get the most out of the device. I’m looking forward to the next version of Android (“Gingerbread”), due out very shortly, which will be more optimized for tablet devices. With the new OS, Android-powered tablets like the Galaxy Tab should take their rightful place as serious business competitors to the iPad.

In sailing, as in business, there are many measures to take into account, and top performance is achieved by attaining the optimal mix. For example, when you’re sailing upwind, there’s a tradeoff between direction and speed. If you sail too close to the wind, you’ll go slowly. If you sail too far off the wind, you’ll go faster, but over a longer distance. The most effective course is between the two, where the combination of boat speed and direction generate the most windward velocity (“velocity made good”).

SAP has a great deal of experience helping with business analytics, and now the SAP BusinessObjects team are using that expertise to create a first set of sailing analytics for the SAP 5O5 World Championship in Aarhus, Denmark.

For example, the Dashboard Design (formerly Xcelsius) visualization below shows the leader board of the fifth race. For each leg, the top ten boats are shown, with the time each arrived at the mark after the leader. The top bar allows you to change the icon size and color based on different criteria. By benchmarking their performance against others, the sailors can get insight into their performance.

For example, in the view above, we can see that crew of Napier and Cram in boat GBR 8701 came in 7th for the fifth leg (tacking upwind to the windward mark). But what’s interesting is that they achieved a higher top speed (6.21 km/h) than the #2, #3, #4 and #5 boats (the color and size of each icon shows the relative top speed compared to the other boats. So, as in the example above, the problem may be that they are sailing just a little too far off the wind compared to the leading boats (although of course sail racing is a lot more complicated than this simple example, and wind shifts, currents, and the tactical maneuvers of the other boats all play a huge part).

Here’s a selection of the analyses available on the analysis page of the official SAP 505 World Championship site:

	The Race Analysis Dashboard provides you with a quick view of the Leader Group and allows for comparison across several key measures at each Mark Rounding point. Using information like Velocity Made Good and Distance Traveled, sailors and spectators alike can put the knowledge behind the data to see which tactics were the leading ones on this day. Is it better to travel further into clean wind to gain speed, or does a tighter course bring the advantage in today’s conditions? Let’s find out together…. Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Race 5
	The Leader Comparison Report gives the user the ability to compare key metrics across the Top 10 Racers for that Race. Comparing things such as Distance Travelled and Leg Time provides a quick view of how one team compares to the others in this group. Did they sail more distance in order to gain more speed with clean wind? By comparing these key statistics in the Leader Group, we begin to see the results of tactics and strategies and begin to understand the continuous refinement happening on the course. Open Leader Comparison Report
	Race Information Dashboard gives general information about the race, the competitors and the standings to date. See the current positions for the team members representing your home country as you become more hooked on 505 Racing! Open Race Information Dashboard

And here’s a bonus Xcelsius dashboard I put together that lets you find photos of the sailors and boats, by bow number, sail number, helm name, crew name, or country:

Santiago’s new company is called Mellmo, and it recently launched a beautiful BI front-end for the iPhone called RoamBI. The dynamic visualizations were designed from the ground up to make the most of the mobile environment and maximize use of the iPhone’s small screen size, allowing you to access, analyze, and share data from just about anywhere.

RoamBI does a great job of showing off the interface, with an interactive demo embedded directly into their home page, and a nice overview video:

 [See post to watch Flash video]

Just like Xcelsius, you can use it RoamBI directly with your own Excel spreadsheets by uploading them to RoamBI.com, and this time around, Santiago has included corporate data sources from the beginning, with access to Salesforce.com, SAP Crystal Reports, and SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence documents (using the Enteprise version).

It’s early days, and the interface looks almost too good to be true, but the feedback from users of the application on the Apple App Store is bordering on the euphoric (the only complaints have been about trying to figure out how to do some things – which is presumably easy to fix with a bit more documentation).

• “Most Amazing UI. This App is amazing. Beautiful UI, pie chart is awesome, I can see analyze data visually. Keep up the good work.”
• “Talk about the Killer App!!. Can I just say WOW!! this tool is insanely functional, beautifully designed UI, easy & intuitive to use, and miraculously it seems to work work and work without flaws! I’m an exec producer in the film industry and think this app will make a huge impact…”
• “Visualization fun at your fingertips!”
• “WOW! RoamBI it is an Amazing application. I can’t believe how good the application is. I love it. I really like the pie chart and the viewer of the bar chart. My favorite chart type is the Catalyst. Good Job….”

Like SAP BusinessObjects Explorer, RoamBI is part of a new generation of BI front ends that require little or no training, yet still let the users “roam” freely through data with a minimum of setup, using data from “the cloud”.

So maybe the only question that remains is “how long before Santiago gets acquired again?!”. If you’d like more information, Shawn Rogers has written a great post on B-eye.com about the launch, and you can download the application yourself here (link opens in iTunes).

While we’re all busy making predictions about new waves of technology in 2009, many companies are only just now starting to consider implementing business intelligence on a wider scale.

In case you doubt me, take a look at the eye-opening chart below from a recent survey done by Computerworld (and sponsored by Oracle) called "BI: Proven Tools for Competitive Advantage in Uncertain Times"

That’s right: the top three BI investments are all things that have been around for over 20 years — production reporting, spreadsheets, and ad-hoc queries — and which get very little attention in business intelligence coverage.. 

These days, any mention of reporting in BI marketing brochures is typically in the condescending form "our solution provides much more than mere reporting". But production reporting remains vitally important. It is the original "BI for the masses", and we often forget just how much value organizations can get from putting even basic information into the hands of their employees, partners, and customers.

Other interesting results in the report include:

• Only 26% of respondents expect to spend less on BI in 2009
• People are struggling to afford to save money — "realizing cost efficiencies" is the #1 reason to implement new BI initiatives, but "budget constraints" is the top business challenge to doing so!
• 72% rate BI as high or critical priority over the long term

Overall, it looks like it should be a good year for Crystal Reports, the clear market leader in reporting solutions — and I’m sure Microsoft will be happy with the results, too…